In 1984, British television broadcast a very successful seriesentitled
the Beiderbecke Affair. The main characters are two
teachers,
one teaches woodwork and the other teaches English. The woodwork
teacher
likes to listen to jazz and wants to purchase some jazz records. From
that
point on, the plot thickens and I couldn't tell from what I read
whether
this is a mystery, a sitcom (a la anglaise), a comedy, or all of
the above. The series is described as having a background of white jazz
- Bix Beiderbecke's recordings are heard in the soundtrack. The series
was so successful, that it spawned two sequels, the Beiderbecke
Tapes
in 1987 and the Beiderbecke Connection in 1988. The
soundtrack
of the last of the series is available as a CD (Play 010) entitled The
A to Z of British TV Themes, Volume 3, The Beiderbecke
Connection.
Click here
for another issue of the soundtrack.

Beiderbecke's
Brasserie.

According to information in its web page, this brasserie located in
Darlington,
in the north-east of England "takes its name from Leon Bix Beiderbecke,
the famous or infamous jazz musician who most of you will probably
remember
from the Beiderbecke Affair or the Beiderbecke
Tapes."The
web page for the Brasserie provides a link to the Bix Beiderbecke
Memorial
Society.

Bix
Restaurant.

This
restaurant/bar, located on Gold Street, near the Transamerica Pyramid
in
San Francisco is managed by Doug "Bix" Biederbeck. It is a rather
sophisticated
place, styled in the art deco mode. There are no pictures of Bix, nor
is
there any mention to the Bix. The live music is modern jazz.
The
ca. mid-18th century building that houses the restaurant has been
designated
as a Historical Landmark and is located on a narrow alley in what used
to be the Barbary Coast section of San Francisco. Doug tells
me
(e-mail message 4/22/00) that he has met people who remember Bix (THE
Bix).
Not long after Doug opened the restaurant in 1988, an old lady went to
see him. She said she remembered sitting on Bix's lap when Bix
and
the Jean Goldkette band were practicing at her family's "summer home"
in
Michigan or a state near Michigan. Doug did not remember her exact
name,
but thought that it was Hazel Horvath or Horworth. Doug's
memory
is remarkable. Hazel Horvath was the daughter of Edith and Charlie
Horvath
who was the band manager and drummer for theJean Goldkette orchestra.
Hazel's
memories of sitting on Bix's lap go back to the summer of 1926
when
the Jean Goldkette Orchestra had a summer engagement in the Blue
Lantern
Inn, Hudson Lake, Indiana.

Bix's.

A
dining establishment in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no connection with
Bix Beiderbecke.

Hotel-Restaurant
Bei der Becke. Herman
Bei der Beckeisthe owner of the hotel-restaurant that
bears
his name. The hotel is located just
outside of Osnabrück, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. The origin
of the town goes back to Charlemagne, the emperor of the Franks, who in
780 AD founded a missionary settlement. History was made in
Osnabrück
from 1643 to 1648 in connection with negotiations that led to the Peace
of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Year War.

I am
grateful to Richard M. Sudhalter for the gift of the postcard.

Bix
Furniture
Restoration.

I
knowof several stores in the east who specialize in the
restoration
of antique furniture. They all use Bix Furniture Stripper, a product
made
by a company owned by Kirk Kraft, from Clear Lake, Iowa. I am guessing
that, Clear Lake being in Iowa, the company derives its name from Bix
Beiderbecke.
I would appreciate any information about this from anyone who knows.01/11/01 Thanks to Les Hatklin
who tells me, "The Bix Manufacturing Co., Inc. was founded in 1957 by
Gerald
L. Bixenman." The corporate offices are located in Madison, TN. The
company
produces a whole variety of paint removers.

In
A Mist. This
book is advertised by the publishers as "A classic novel in the
Victorian
style". Anonymous, 186 pages, Blue Moon Books, Inc., 1994. I have not
read
this book nor do I intend to. In their web site, the publishers
describe
the book: "The teasing enigma of legendary jazz cornetist Bix
Beiderbecke's
piano piece, "In A Mist", is skillfully woven into this intensely
erotic
and psychological study."

I am grateful to David Jemelia
for calling my attention to this book.

Bix,
a Punk Rock Band from Lithuania.

According
to their web
site,BIX is one of the oldest and the
best-known bands in Lithuania. A group of art and music students
got together in 1987 as an underground band. When liberation
came,
they participated in festivals in Germany, France, Italy, Poland,
Czechia,
Slovakia, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and twice in the
United
States. The band started recording in 1991. The last record to date,
Wor's,
was released in 1997. One of the songs (if things recorded by pun rock
bands can be called songs) is entitled "BIX'n'ROLL" ("BIXING
DANCE").

A
Photograph of a Band.

The
image
on the left is a scan of a photograph purchased by Scott Black inan
antique shop in Indiana. Scott told me (e-mail message May 4, 1999)
that
he knows that the cornet player is not Bix, but that when he saw the
photograph,
he "almost swooned". Undoubtedly, the resemblance is uncanny. It might
take a while to download the image, but it is worth waiting. I did not
want to loose resolution.I am
grateful to Scott Black for sending the scan.

Young
Man With A Horn.

The first
mention
in print of the title phrase that I could find is in the article by
Otis
Ferguson, "Young Man with a Horn" originally
published
in The New Republic in 1936 and reprinted
in "Jam Session, An Anthology of Jazz" edited by Ralph J.
Gleason,
The Jazz Book Club, London, 1961. The "Young Man with a Horn" is, of
course,
Bix Beiderbecke. Two years later, the novel "Young Man with a Horn" was
published by Dorothy Baker (Queens House, Larchmont, NY, 1938, 243
pages).
Finally, the motion picture with the same title was released in 1950,
with
Kirk Douglas starring as the Young Man with a Horn. In the
preface
to her book, Dorothy Baker writes: "The inspiration for the writing
of this book has been the music, but not the life, of a great musician,
Leon (Bix) Beiderbecke, who died in the year 1931. The characters and
events
of the story are entirely fictitious and do not refer to real
musicians,
living or dead, or to actual happenings." There is some truth
to this statement, but, in my opinion it is quite deceitful. It is true
that the background of Rick Martin, the hero of the novel, is totally
different
from Bix's. But, there are too many similarities between Rick Martin
and
Bix, as well as other parallelisms that I will list below, for me to
accept
that "the characters ... do not refer to real musicians". Both
Rick
and Bix play piano and trumpet/cornet. Rick Martin eventually joins
Phil
Morrison "who ran the best orchestra of the day". Of course, Bix
joined Paul Whiteman's orchestra, the most successful "jazz"
organization
of the 1920's. Phil Morrison's orchestra featured a vocal trio and two
arrangers; Paul Whiteman had the fabulous Rhythm Boys, the great Bill
Challis
and Ferde Grofe. Both Rick Martin and Bix were gifted with a genius for
music and both were particularly appreciated by their fellow musicians.
Both died before the age of 30 from pneumonia and excessive consumption
of alcohol. There are more resemblances. I quote from p. 172: "Rick
wasn't the only good man in it (the band) either; there was a
fiddler
who made you think twice, and a man who blew as good a trombone as
you'll
hear anywhere in public." Could the fiddler be Joe Venuti and the
trombone
player Bill Rank? Again, from p. 172: "But when that thin blond boy
(Rick Martin)stood up in
his
place and tore off sixteen bars in his own free style, filling the
blank
that was allotted to him on the score, it was a surprise
forever." Didn't
Bill Challis' arrangements give lots of opportunities for Bix to
improvise?
Didn't George Johnson tell us that"Bix
was a fountain of ideas that were spontaneous, as unexpected to
himself as they were to us."Doroty
Baker writes in p. 105: "When are you good enough; how do you know
when
you're right? He went into one of his fictions: some big-time-band
leader,
Paul Whiteman, like as not, was sitting right out there in the dim hall
at one of the tables. Somebody had told him Rick was good and hed'
better
look him up. So he had, and now Rick was going to play a little
something
for him, and if he liked it he'd take him on. All Rick had to do was to
play, and it had better be good, because old Paul Whiteman didn't come
here just because he didn't have anything else to do." Paul
Whiteman
had heard Bix play with the Jean Goldkette Orchestra and made repeated
offers to Bix to join the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. (In fact, at the
invitation
of Bix and Bill Challis, Paul conducted the Jean Goldkette Orchestra on
August 8, 1927 in Atlantic City) Indeed, Bix's music was the
inspiration
for the book, but, in my opinion, and as detailed above, Dorothy Baker
did no stop at the music. Dorothy Baker is not a gifted
writer:
the characters she invents are poorly constructed, the story is
unsatisfactory,
the relationsips between the characters are strained or
unbelievable.
However, I must admit to a certain morbid fascination with the book. It
must be that I want to read as much as I can about Bix, and although
certainly
Rick Martin is no Bix, the similarities are too pronounced for me to
completely
separate the real Bix from the fictional Rick. The 1950 film, based on the novel,
was written by Carl Foreman, produced by Jerry Wald, and directed by
Michael
Curtiz. Many excellent actors and actresses starred in the film: Kirk
Douglas,
Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, and Juano Hernandez
Kirk
Douglas plays Rick Martin. Harry James dubs Kirk Douglas on the
trumpet.
Two new characters were created for the movie: torch singer Jo Jordan
(Doris
Day) and piano player Smoke Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael). In spite all
the talent, the film is pretty bad - part musical, part soap opera,
part
drama. The music, of course, has nothing to do whatsoever with Bix. It
is typical 1940's popular/big band music. Two LP's with music from the film
(not a "soundtrack" recording, but recordings of the music from the
film,
after the film was completed) were issued in 1950: a 10'' LP by Doris
Day,
Columbia CL6106, and a 12' LP by Harry James, Columbia ACL582. There is
also a 1950 Capitol 10' 78 by Ray Anthony "Theme from Young Man with A
Horn". Just a couple of weeks ago, on June 6, 1999, the songs on the
two
LP's (plus a bonus track) were reissued on a Sony/Columbia CD
65508:
"Young Man with A Horn. Doris Day/Harry James. The songs included are0 1. I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're
Wonderful)0 2. The Man I Love0 3. The Very Thought Of You0 4. Pretty Baby0 5. Melancholy Rhapsody0 6. Would I Love You0 7. Too Marvelous For Words0 8. Get Happy0 9. I Only Have Eyes For You10. Limehouse Blues11. With A Song In My Heart12. Lullaby Of Broadway13. Moanin' LowNot exactly Bix's songs!

A
Comic
Strip With A Character Named Bix.

This
comic strip appeared in newspapers in 1979. Pheobe and the Pigeon
People
is an underground comic stip that appears in the Chicago area.I am grateful to Steve Mican for
kindly sending the image.

Weet-Bix.

This
is the number one selling breakfast cereal in Australia. It is
manufactured
by Sanitarium Health Food Co., founded in 1898. The company also makes
Fruity-Bix, Bran-Bix, and Lite-Bix. The bix here has nothing to do with
Bix Beiderbecke. It is an abbreviation for biscuit.

Bix
Knife.

I
purchased this knife from a fellow who bought it in a flea market in
Holland.
The two-inch blade has the inscription "Paul A. Henckels, Solingen".

Computer
Companies.

Several
computer companies have the name Bix in theirtitles: Bix
Global
Interactive Community, Bix Computers, etc. One company, Independent
Technologies,
Inc., produces Bix block adapters for high speed data connections. None
of these companies has anything to do with Bix Beiderbecke. The b and
the
i are probably derived from bit and the x from exchange, as in
information
exchange.

A Jazz
Album for Children.

Langston
Hughes produced "The first album of jazz for children with documentary
recordings from the library of Folkways Records." The title isThe
Story of Jazz. The artists covered are Jelly Roll Morton, Bunk
Johnson, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Earl Hines and
Dizzy Gillespie.

Bix,
Jack Webb, and Pete Kelly's Blues.

Jack
Webb is a well-known television and film actor, producer, and director.
He was a jazz enthusiast. According to Charlotte
Younger, Jack Webb had a collection of 6000 jazz albums and
practiced
the cornet for hours. Jack Webb "wanted to produce and direct a motion
picture on the life of Jazz Immortal Bix Beiderbecke." (Time Magazine,
March 15, 1954) He never did, but he directed, produced, and starred in
the 1955 motion picture "Pete Kelly's Blues" which takes place during
the
1920's. In the film, Jack Webb plays Pete Kelly, a cornet player and
band
leader of "Pete Kelly's and His Big Seven" (really, Matty Matlock
Dixielanders). Early in the
film, there is a reference to Bix. Edmond O'Brien plays a mobster who
is
trying to muscle in and take over the band. The musicians in the band
decide
to resist O'Brien efforts, except for Lee Marvin, who plays Al Gannaway,
a clarinetist, and chooses to quit the band. At that point, the
following
conversation between Al and Pete ensues.Pete: "Where do you think
you'll
go?"Al: "East, maybe; thought I
might try to catch up with a big outfit, Goldkette, somebody like that."Pete: "Paid up, got train
fare?"Al: "I'll catch a bus out of
St. Louis. I ought to be used to it by now. I bet I spent half my life
in bus stations. Ain't that the dangest thing? Sure wish you'd go
along,
Pete. You'd do good with someone like Goldkette."Pete: "Who's playing horn
there?"Al: "Bix, I guess."Pete: "I'm safer here, Al." As an aside, there is an
interesting
question about the participation of Joe Venuti in the film. According
to the film credits, the band "features the talents" of Dick
Cathcart
(cornet), Moe Schneider (trombone), George Van Eps (guitar), Ray
Sherman
(piano), Matty Matlock (clarinet), Eddie Miller (saxophone), Nick
Fatool
(drums), and Jud De Naut (string bass). According to The
Guide to Jazz in Film Bibliography, Joe Venuti also plays in the
Big
Seven band.This is in error. The band
consists
of the eight musicians listed above and does not include Joe
Venuti.
However, I found a mention of Joe Venuti in the entry for the film in
the
Cinemania 97 CD. According to the information provided, Joe Venuti is
an
uncredited member of the Tuxedo Band. The problem left is the
identification
of the Tuxedo Band. As far as I can tell, there are three distinct
bands
in the film. 1. Pete Kelly and His Big Seven. 2. A band of black
musicians
who play at a funeral at the beginning of the movie. 3. A small combo
of
black musicians accompanying Ella Fitzgerald. None of these groups
includes
Joe Venuti. Can anybody shed some light on this puzzle? Please write to
ahaim@hotmail.comAddendum 9/8/99: The Library of Congress has a
website entitled "The Guide to Jazz in Film Bibliography" at http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mopic/jazz/o-r.html
In the review of "Pete Kelly's Blues", it is stated that the film "includes
two numbers by Ella Fitzgerald, backed by Don Abney, Larry Bunker and
Joe
Mondragon. Also features Perry Bodkin, Teddy Buckner, Dick
Cathcart,
Nick Fatool, Harper Goff, Thomas Jefferson, Matty Matlock, Eddie
Miller,
Jud de Naut, Moe Schneider, Ray Sherman, George Van Eps and Joe
Venuti
performing "Bye Bye Blackbird," "Hardhearted Hannah," "He Needs Me," "I
Never Knew," "Oh, Didn't He Ramble," "Pete Kelly's Blues," "Sing Me a
Rainbow,"
"Somebody Loves Me" and "Sugar." I highlight Joe Venuti. This is
the
second mention of Joe Venuti being present in the soundtrack of the
film.
Clearly, Joe Venuti is not present in the video portion of the
film.
A violonist is never seen playing with the band. Could Venuti be in the
soundtrack? Is it possible that the video tape does not contain all of
the footage included in the film version? I am going to watch the
movie again and will listen carefully in search of aural evidence of
the
great Joe Venuti's violin sound. I will report in due course.Addendum, 12/28/99: Steve
Cooper ( a Red Nichols expert who, with his band The Dixie Patrol,
recreates
the sound of Red Nichol's 1950's Capitol recordings) writes: "I just
saw
an article about Pete Kelly's Blues on the internet. The Tuxedo
Band
was in the TV Series of Pete Kelly's Blues, not the film.
However,
on the TV soundtrack album, there is NO violin in the 4 Tuxedo Band
tunes.
So I guess Joe Venuti was not associated in the movie at all." He
adds
on 12/29/99: "I've noticed lots of filmographies have erroneous
information,
so this is just "par for the course."Addendum, 11/26/02: Ray Sherman writes
on
25 Nov 2002, "The Tuxedo Band is the "society band" at the rich girl's
party towards the middle of the picture. Venuti could be on the
sound
track for that scene."

An
Ancient
Hamlet in England.Bix
and Assendon are two hamlets located near Henley-on-Thames, about 18
miles
from London Heathrow Airport. The name Bix is derived from the Anglo
Saxon
name of the parish Byxe. The Domesday Book records
the village Bix as Bix Brad and Bix Gibwen. Remains of a Roman villa
are
found nearby. A company that specializes in web page design and in
photographs, Timeless
Dimension, has a web site with two photographs of interest. One is
a photograph of an old church in Bix Bottom Valley, located one mile
from
the hamlet. The other is a photograph of the Bix Common Field
entitled
"On a Misty Evening". Isn't that an amazing coincidence of names? Bix
and
mist!! The
photograph
at right is the work of Mark Alliston and it is shown here through his
courtesy.

Bix
Trail. Many years
ago
Dirk Jellema, David Jellema's uncle, owned two miles of lakefront on
the
shores of Lake Michigan. As the owner of that land, Dirk had
the joyful task of naming some of the trails and roads that existed
there.
He named Bix Trail after Beiderbecke, Peppers Trail after his own dog
"Pepper"
-and- after the Red Hot Peppers (incidentally, there is another trail
named
"Morton Trail", but its sign is down). In Lost Valley, where the
photograph
at the left was taken, Dirk operated a restaurant.Dirk
was a jazz lover. Therefore, it is not surprising that the "Jack Pine
Savages"
with Tom Pletcher played at the restaurant. David Jellema first heard
Tom
Pletcher there. It is also the place where David's Uncle, Gordon Darrah,who
was a record dealer and hosted a radio program in Western Michigan for
years called "The Land of Jazz.", gave him his
first
Bix tape. David refers to Lost Valley as "a magical place
indeed..."The Jellema's property in Lost
Valley
is only about three miles North of White Lake. The town of
Montague
is on one shore of White Lake, Whitehall on the other. In the
summer
of 1922 Bix had one of his earliest gigs there on White Lake.

I am grateful to David
Jellema for
sending the image of the Bix Trail sign. Most of the text above is
taken
from an e-mail message he sent to me on 8/20/99.

Victor
Buono's "New Gig".Victor Buono,
the movie and television actor, wrote a book of poetry about being fat.
In 1972, he issued an LP, "Heavy!" (Dore Records LP-325) where he read
some of this poetry. The last cut in the record is called "New Gig"
where
Buono mentions Bix. This is a poem about Satchmo going to heaven. It
begins
as follows.As heaven's portals opened
wideA brand new saint came
marchin'
inFor one who recently had diedHe wore a most aggressive
grinThey handed him a golden hornJust polished by a cherub's
wingA gift from friends, Parker,
Handy, Bix and King...

I am grateful to Joe
Giordano for
sending me an audio cassette copy of the album.

A
Poem that Mentions Bix.James
Merrill (1926-1995) was a novelist, playwright and poet. One of his
poems
begins as follows.

Bix to Buxtehude to
Boulez,The little white dog on the
Victor labelListens long and hard as he
is able.It's all in a day's work,
whatever
plays.

A
Mention of Bix in a Song.In
1957,Louis
Prima issued a Capitol album entitled "The Wildest". One of the songs
in
the album is entitled "Lip" and includes a vocal by Dorothy Keely
Smith.
The "Lip" is the name given to a trumpet player that is the center of
the
lyrics for the song. One of the lines in the lyrics goes as follows:"He's got a tone that's
reminiscent
of a boy named Bix."Other trumpet players mentioned
in the song are Ziggy Elman, Harry James and Louis Prima. I am sad to
see
Bix in such poor company.I am grateful to Joe Giordano
for
alerting me about the existence of this song.

Bix
Butterbox.The
TV Guide of November 5, 1967 carries the following description:

Bix,
the Dinosaur.James
Gurney is the author of several children's books about Dinotopia, a
fictional island where humans and dinosaurs coexist peacefully. The
heroes
of the books are Will and Arthur Denison who shipwrecked on the island
in 1862. The first dinosaur they met was Bix, a protoceratops who is
Ambassador
and Translator. Bix guided Will and Arthur in their various voyages in
their discovery of the island. A plush toy inspired by the Bix
character
in the books is shown on the left. Bix, the
Dinosaur,
has its own website.

Bix
Beiderbark, the Dalmatian.Tom Roberts, a native of
Pittsburgh,
PA, is a jazz pianist. He currently plays and is musical director
with Leon Redbone. He has played with several traditional
jazz groups such as Eddie Bayard's Steamboat Stompers on the steamboat
"Natchez", The Crescent City Rhythm Kings, and The Silver Leaf Jazz
Band.
Tom has eleven CDs to his credit and has just released his second solo
CD on Stomp Off Records. I will cite just a few of the musicians that
he
has recorded with: Vince Giordano, John Gill, Chris Tyle, and Dan
Levinson.
Tom owns a dalmatian that he named Bix Beiderbark. The image on the
right
is from the cover of Tom's 1997 CD ofJazz Piano Solos and shows Tom
and the dalmatian.

Robot-Bix

Alain Serres (writer) and
Sophie
Dutertre (illustrator) have published, in France, a children's
book
titled "Krocobill et Robot-Bix." According to the book notes in
Fnac
(a popular store in Europe that sells books, records, videos),
Krocobill
is a small child who is fascinated by Robot-Bix, a television hero. One
day, Krocobill's grandmother, gives him a toy Robot-Bix. Krocobill
takes
the robot to school, hoping that Pierrot and Geneviève,
two
of his classmates, will no longer dare bothering him. But things do not
happen as expected. Krocobill becomes courageous, not because of the
robot,
but in order to save him from his cruel classmates. It is a
touching
story for children four and older.

A
Short Story That Mentions Bix

"Pulphouse: The Hardback
Magazine"
was edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch in Eugene, Oregon. The Fall 1988
issue,
entitled "Horror" contains short stories, essays and articles. One of
the
short stories is "The Night I Saw Bix Beiderbecke Playing on the Corner
of Fifth Avenue and 53rd" by Ron Goulart.

Some information about
Ms.
Rusch can be found at http://www.greenmanreview.com/rusch.htmlI quote:"Few people have had as diverse
an impact on science fiction and fantasy as Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Winner
of the John W. Campbell Award in 1990 for best new writer, Rusch made
her
mark with powerfully emotional short stories. In 1989 she shared a
World
Fantasy Award with her husband and collaborator, Dean Wesley Smith, for
their work on Pulphouse: A Hardback Magazine. From 1991-1997 she edited
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, for which she won the Hugo
Award for best editor in 1994."

The short story deals with
black
magic, sorcerers, demons and runes (I had to look it up; letters of the
earliest Germanic alphabet used by Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons from
about the 3rd century), and holes in the fabric of time. According to
the
story, a sorcerer can write a number of runes on a piece of parchment
and
slip it to his intended victim. If the individual has the piece of
parchment
in his possession by a given time, a demon will home in and destroy
him.
The only way he can save himself is by passing the parchment to someone
else. The story relates how this fellow is first given the parchment
and
then passes it on before the deadline. As he returns home, the text
reads:

*************When I was approaching 51st
Street,
I began hearing music from a couple of blocks ahead. The tune was
"Singing
the Blues". The fellow on cornet had a round plump face, slicked hair
and
a small mustache. He wore a wrinkled tuxedo and was paying attention to
nothing but his music. Seated in a camp chair was a lean blond man
playing
a banjo. His case was open on the damp sidewalk, a scatter of small
coins
and a single dollar bill resting on the faded purplish plush. The
drummer
was tall and thin, playing a single snare while standing in a hunch.I recognized the horn player
while
I was still several yards from him. It was Bix Beiderbecke, the
legendary
jazz musician who'd died back in the early 1930's sometime. I'd seen
his
picture in histories, heard his records.I was tempted to stop and
listen,
but I didn't. It seem wiser tot keep moving.One of them called something
after
me. I don't know, though, what he said. [End of story]*********

Evidently, Mr. Goulart knows
quite
a bit about Bix: his total concentration in music, his disregard for
personal
grooming, his most important recording, and the fact that in his latter
years he had a mustache. How many jazz fans, let alone normal people,
would
know all of these things?

Abstract
Art: Bix #2 and Bix # 10.

The exhibition of abstract
drawings
at Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Larchmont, New York, in February 2001,
included
two drawings by Andra Samelson. In his review for the February 4, 2001,
issue of the New York Times, William Zimmer writes,

"Andra Samelson's two large
ink
drawings each contain a novel half-organic, half-geometric shape. But
the
ink Ms. Samelson uses isn't a special kind for artists. Rather she uses
Bic pens with blue ink. This is obvious in the cross-hatching, which
gives
a sense of volume to the shapes and helps make them ingratiating; any
viewer
can identify with the process. Most of the pieces in the exhibition are
untitled, or have a general series name with numbers added for
individual
works. Ms. Samelson causes a bit of delight when a viewer notices that
her contributions are titled ''Bix #2'' and ''Bix #10.'' The early,
insouciant-sounding
jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke is brought to mind by this play on the
name
of her trusty implement. "

A
Bix Toy Soldier.

Blenheim, a toy soldier manufacturer in Wales, was
commissioned
to make a set of toy soldiers for a special celebration in Iowa. The
Iowa
set shown here consists of Buffalo Bill Cody, Bix Beiderbecke,
Marilyn
Monroe, an IowaHighway
Patrolman and Herbert Hoover, all prominent Iowans except Marilyn. Does
anyone know why Marilyn was included in the Iowa Set?

I am guessing that the name of the Blenheim Toy
Soldier
Manufacturing Company comes form Winston Churchill's interest in toy
soldiers.
From an early age, Churchill played with toy soldiers. At one point, he
had a collection of about fifteen hundred Napoleonic era troops. A
collection
of toy soldiers is on display at Blenheim Palace, Churchill's
birthplace
and the home of the Dukes of Marlborough.

Two close-up views (in black and white) of the Bix
toy
are displayed in p. 590 of "Bix: The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story" by
Philip
Evans and Linda Evans. According to the caption to the photographs in
the
book, "The arms will move the cornet to his lips". The inscription in
the
bottom of the tiny (less than three inches) statue reads: "Made in
Wales
for G. J. Alingh."

I thank Brad Kay for pointing out that the above
image
was posted on ebay.If the person who auctioned the set finds my posting
of the image offensive, I will remove it immediately.

A
Caricature of Bix

Randall Enos is an
illustrator of
magazines, newspapers, books, record and CD covers,posters, and animated film. To
see some of his portraits/caricatures, click here.
Randall loves Bix and introduced the caricature in the 1992
Illustrators
Society show. The caricature was subsequently published in the annual
Illustrators
Society Annual. The image is included in Randall's website. See the
image
on the right.

I am grateful to Randall for
granting
me permission to post the image here.

A
Painting
of Bix. (uploaded 08/29/04)Lino Patruno kindly sent me a
photo
of a painting of Bix by Salvatore Lembo, an Italian painter from Vallo
della Lucania. We see Lino standing next to the painting and holding a
cornet.

A
Xylography (Woood Engraving) of Bix.

Frasconi,
Antonio

(b
Buenos Aires, 28 April 1919). Uruguayan printmaker and
illustrator of Argentine birth. The son of Italian parents who settled
in Montevideo when he was two weeks old, he first exhibited drawings in
1939 at the Ateneo in Montevideo and studied printmaking with various
artists, while also working as a political caricaturist in the weekly
publications Marcha, La Línea Maginot. His
diverse
influences included German Expressionism, José Guadalupe Posada,
the
Taller de Gráfica Popular and woodcuts by Japanese artists such
as
Katsushika Hokusai and Kitagawa Utamaro.(Grove Dictionary of Art).At age 26 he moved to the USA. His work is found in several
museums around the country. In an interview by Robert Berlind
published in the Spring 1994 issue of the "Art Journal" Frasconi was
asked,

R.B.: What were you
focused on as a young man in Uruguay?

A.F.: We always had
an admiration for anything that came from the
United States in the late twenties, thirties, and forties. Everything
that came from up there was great. And everything really was great. The
writing: John Dos Passos, Theodore Dreiser, Faulkner, Richard Wright.
The movies were absolutely the greatest thing. The music! When this
American music came into being in the thirties for us it was an
explosion.

The Bix Produce Company. (uploaded 12/26/04)According to their website, http://www.bixproduce.com, "Bix provides the finest quality bulk and
pre-cut fruits and vegetables,
dairy, and related food items to food service operators including restaurants, hotels,
educational institutions, and country clubs
located in the Twin Cities metro area, greater Minnesota, and Western
Wisconsin." The company was founded in 1930 by the Bix family.
Recently, Dec. 2,
2004 – Goldsmith Agio Helms
announced it has successfully completed the sale of its client Bix Produce Company ("Bix" or
the "Company"). Hans Eekhoff kindly sent me an image of the company's
products, Bix Pure Ground Ginger